Taste of Power
by ClaireRoo
Summary: What happens when Wesker and Claire finally meet and face off?
1. Chapter 1: The meeting

Claire bit her lip, raising her handgun. She trained it on the darkness before her, which was practically a superficial gesture. If she understood Albert Wesker as Chris described him, her odds of actually hitting him were low enough that being blindfolded wouldn't make much of a difference. The sound of Wesker moving overhead caught her attention and she trained her gun upwards.

The next few moments passed in a blur. By the time Wesker actually entered her field of vision, Claire had the time for only one shot. She closed an eye, attempted to align her sights, a difficult task given the circumstances, and squeezed the trigger. A shot. The sound of metal clanging in the distance told her that she shot wide, if not by much. By the time she had lined up a second shot, Wesker was upon her.

His punch was not unlike getting hit by a car. Claire's pulse race as his fist connected with her lower ribcage, sending her back a few week. She tensed, steadying her arm and realizing she must have dropped her gun sometime in the process. Wesker stood before her, no different than she remembered. The glow behind his glasses never failed to unnerve her. She took a deep breath. He stood before her, seeming content to simply observe her. Not wanting to waste the few precious seconds she was being afforded. Her hand reached for her belt, pulling out her knife. Taking a second to brace herself and shift the weight of her back away from her fractured ribcage, she readied herself for another exchange. While she wasn't optimistic about her odds, she'd be damned if she let Albert Wesker ever get the better of her without a fight.

The two exchanged a silent look before charging. Claire stayed back, she couldn't outmaneuver Wesker, and so her only hope was to catch him off guard. He rushed her, faster than she had expected. Closing her eyes, she swung at him, hoping to catch him in the ribcage. Her arm struck something hard. Opening her eyes, she saw that he had caught her by the forearm. A mere heartbeat passed before he twisted her arm, causing her to drop her knife. She swore to herself. With little visible effort, Wesker drove his palm into her stomach, throwing her back against the wall.

Claire barely had time to hit the wall before Wesker was upon her again. She attempted to lunge at him, but wasn't nearly fast enough. By the time she could even see what was going on, he had her pinned, his gloved hands pinning her forearms to the wall. Following a quick kick to her shin, she was helpless. She closed her eyes. As much as she hated to admit, she was helpless against him. She braced herself for whatever injury came next, and was surprised when none came.

A ripping sound filled the air, as she was relieved of her jacket. Hesitantly, Claire opened her eyes. She was staring directly into his glowing eyes. She shuddered. With another quick movement, Wesker's hand traced her torso, grabbing her undershirt and tearing it clean off of her body. She tensed, scared of what could be coming next.

Her fears were realized as Wesker snaked his hand along her chest, causing it to pant as it passed over her ribcage. She twitched slightly, realized the experience had left her slightly wet. She cursed the thought, determined to hold steadfast against him. As his hand reached lower, it undid the clap on her belt, a stark contrast to the aggressive treatment that her shirt had received. She heard a clang as her tools and weapons dropped to the ground beneath her. A light pant escaped her mouth.

Wesker's hand began to work its way lower, caressing the inside of her thigh. She gulped. It finally reached upwards, lightly rubbing between her legs. By now, he would no doubt be able to tell she was wet. She mentally cursed again. The last thing she wanted was for Wesker to get the idea she was enjoying it. She wasn't prepared for what came next.

Wesker jammed his hand upwards, a motion of which the speed was comparable to one of his feared punches. The force of which was more than enough to tear through her pants and panties. Claire let out a scream. Wesker's index and middle finger were inside her already wet pussy. She was tight enough that accommodating two fingers was a chore, and the tension of which left her back arching. In a twisted act of mercy, Wesker gave her a second to adjust to it before he started to move his hand, gloved fingers pumping in an out of her. Claire found a moan escaping her lips, an act she instantly resented herself for. As she stood here, pinned against the wall and helpless to resist his probing, Wesker extended his thumb, causing it to just narrow catch her clit each time he shoved his fingers inside her. A feeling began to well up inside of her, something she couldn't control. With a howl, she came on his fingers, her arched back beginning to slouch against the wall.

How fortunate she would be if such was the end of it. She let out a narrow sigh as his fingers exited her. Before she had time to catch her breath, he was already inside her, causing a second scream to fill the air. He was well endowed, big enough that his fingers had done little to prepare her. Her back arched, and a warped sense of ecstasy came over her, to the degree that her chest injuries seemed to melt away. Wesker finally pulled one of his hands away, allowing her forearm to helplessly hang by her side. With his now free hand, he lifted up her leg, tilting her slightly and giving him a better angle of attack. She moaned, the new angle giving him access to spots she herself was hard pressed to stimulate, and found her arm instinctively reaching around his broad shoulder, subconsciously pulling herself closer to him.

She could taste a trickle of blood. A cursory check revealed she had bitten her lip hard enough to make it bleed, a pain she hadn't noticed in her state of warped ecstasy. Suddenly, as soon as he had entered her, he pulled out, releasing her arm. Robbed of her balanced, she dropped to a heap on the floor. Wesker shot her a quick glance over his shoulder, his eyes glowing with the closest thing to appreciation she thought him capable of. In a blink, he was off.

With a grunt, Claire tried to raise herself, before becoming all the more painfully aware of her damaged ribcage. She made it a few inches up the wall before dropping to the cold floor. Defeated, she grabbed her jacket, now in tatters and did her best to cover herself with it. Minutes passed quietly before she found herself slipping from consciousness. The echo of boots in the distance told her that her help had finally arrived, although much too late to save her…


	2. Chapter 2: The aftermath

It was a solid month before Claire was cleared for service. The routine training exercises and physical rehabilitation passed in a blur. Perhaps in some way, she was seeking rationalization. She couldn't help but think back on the moment. She fancied herself a capable agent, but before Wesker, she may as well have been a child. The fact that Wesker didn't even see fit to speak to her drove the point home all the more. She wondered why. He didn't even have the decency to cum, something she was both thankful for and resented. While she wasn't keen on having his twisted genetics anywhere near her, much less inside her, the fact that he hadn't deemed the experience worth exerting over was, in a way, some form of insult. Was she just a toy to him? Was she even that?

Jobs came and went, all in a blur: investigate potential bioweapon activity, support a BSAA decontamination, and so forth. It wasn't until much later, nearly half a year after the occurrence that a case caught her attention. The BSAA had turned over jurisdiction of an abandoned Umbrella Warehouse to TerraSave. Clearly nothing major if the BSAA didn't care to investigate. Yet, something about the assignment resounded within her. As soon as the document crossed her desk, she knew what she'd find there.

The days leading up to the deployment were busy for her. She spent time at the shooting range. Her aim was back to what it was, before Wesker had done a number on her arm. Every night, she reviewed her knife maneuvers. While she wanted to reassure herself, she knew ultimately that her practice was in vain. Should she encounter him again, her odds weren't any better. No matter how many bio-weapons she had euthanized, she was well aware she couldn't beat him, not without becoming a monster herself.


	3. Chapter 3: The search

The long forgotten Umbrella Warehouse was nestled amongst the woodlands of the New England. Flying above it, Claire could see how this facility stayed hidden so long. Even knowing where to look, the entrance was expertly concealed along the cliff face. As soon as the helicopter touched down, Claire was one of the many pairs of boots that stormed the entrance. Reading her gun, she took her place behind the frontman, a member of TerraSave's armed detail.

As the breaching charges to the door exploded, Claire readied herself and took her place near the back of the detail. The flashlights mounted on the fronts of her allies' submachine guns cast an eerie glow on the metallic walls and illuminated a thick layer of dust in the air. The place was a quiet as a grave; a fitting analogy, Claire thought to herself, given that this place was most likely one.

The boot steps of her teammates echoed across the warehouse as the company breached the main chamber. It took mere seconds for the men at the front to sweep the room, before flashing an 'all clear' signal to the ones in the back. Claire relaxed her grip on her gun. This facility didn't seem particularly involved in Umbrella's bioweapon manufacturing, yet they had gone through the effort of keeping it hidden. As she surveyed the room, she couldn't help but wonder what secret the area held. Something in the stacks of paper and office storage boxes had to be some sort of secret. Sighing, she got to work.

An hour passed without anything eventful happening. Claire had sorted through boxed and boxes of tax information and small-time budgets, nothing that hadn't already been found, and nothing that made this an important location. Frustrated, she tossed the box she was sorting through to the side, and let out a sigh of exasperation.

The sound of metal clanging finally broke the silence. Claire's squad mates, slightly weary from an afternoon of standing watch for nothing, snapped to attention, training their guns around the room. Above them, at the end of one of the numerous walkways, a door began to open. Claire knew who was behind it long before he came into her sight range.

The door finally fully opened, revealing a silhouette for but a brief second. The gunner to Claire's left barely had time to express his surprise before someone was upon him. He let out a cry as something crushed his throat. Claire barely had time to look over and see the face of Albert Wesker, his hand around the throat of her ally. A slight smile crossed Wesker's face before he leapt into the air again. He vanished amongst the rafter. The remaining gunner attempted to train their guns on him, firing randomly into the ceiling. A crushing sound in Claire's blindspot told her that another of her allies fallen. She pivoted, just in time to catch Wesker before her. He extended a palm, pushing her back several meters by a touch on her shoulder alone. With a grin, Wesker drew his gun, opening fire on the two remaining agents in the room. The two dropped in seconds, and with a satisfied sigh, Wesker holstered his firearm.

Claire didn't waste any time. She drew her gun on him. He was in her sights. To her surprise, he made no effort to attack, or escape the firing line of her pistol. "Claire Redfield." He mocked, the first actual line he had said directly to her. Claire trembled. "Shut up!" She yelled, firing a shot wide to prove her point. Wesker didn't even flinch. "Very well, I can see you're not in a mood to talk." He mocked, turning around.

Some part of Claire wanted to put a bullet in his back, although she questioned the good it would actually do her. Another part, a stronger part, wanted answers. Some part of her wanted a rationale behind what happened last time. She knew full well that such would elude her if she shot at him. Best case scenario, he would vanish, however unlikely that was. Worst case scenario, it would happen again. With a sigh, she holstered her gun. "Talk."


	4. Chapter 4: Secrets

Wesker made little effort to communicate with her. With a slight smile, he turned around, and beckoned her to follow him. Claire kept her gun trained on him. As much as doing so gave the façade of power, she knew full well that were he to turn on her, she would once again be powerless. While it went against every instinct she had, she decided to follow him. The man had just killed several capable operatives, one more probably wouldn't make much of a difference. That was assuming he didn't have plans for her.

The thought of which made Claire shudder as Wesker made his way over to the far end of the room. Wordlessly, he began to feel along the wall for something. After a minute or so of looking, his hand found its way to some sort of a mechanism. A loud click filled the room. A split appeared near the wall, well hidden enough that even if she knew what to look for, Claire wasn't sure she would have found it. Wesker turned to face her again, and nodded towards the newly discovered opening. Without a word, he dashed through it, leaving Claire's sight.

Claire cursed at herself for letting him out of her sight. She weighed her options. It seemed unwise to follow him, and the last thing she wanted was this already dangerous confrontation to turn violent. On the other hand, he had kept her alive for a reason, and gone through the effort of showing her something within this base she wouldn't have found otherwise. Biting her lip, Claire crossed to the other side of the room, stopping for a second to pick up an SMG from one of her fallen allies. She figured the automatic fire would do her a lot better if a fight did break out, although the degree of which said fight would be winnable was still questionable.

SMG in hand, Claire followed Wesker through the opening in the wall. The doorway quickly transitioned into a walkway, leading even further into the base. A second doorway lay in front of her. Getting ready for the worst, Claire placed her hand on the door's switch, and raised her SMG when it opened.

Before her stood Wesker, dwarfed by a massive complex of machinery. Glowing lights cast an eerie blue light over the room, and the continual flow of liquids through various transparent forms of tubing gave Claire flashbacks to some of her lesser-desirable encounters with Umbrella's engineering. Wesker's voice finally echoed through the room. "While the efficiency of this particular lab leaves a bit to be desired, I can assure you that it's within your interests to be concerned about it." He chided.

Claire raised her SMG. "What is this place?" She shouted at him. She instantly wished she hadn't. He would answer what he felt like answering, and she was in a position where provoking him would be unwise.

"This is a grave of sorts, a place where some of Umbrella's secrets lay buried. Frankly, I'm surprised that nobody's had the decency to dig them up." Wesker explained, beginning to pace towards her. Claire tensed up as he began to circle her, not unlike an animal surveying its prey. "Umbrella tried for a little while to focus their effects on creating enhanced soldiers. I'm led to believe that their efforts here were ultimately successful." Wesker took off his sunglasses, and Claire felt his animalistic eyes surveying her. "Of course, as your present company shows, weapons you can't control don't do you very much good, do they?" He laughed.

"Why did you bring me here?" Claire asked, trailing her SMG to follow him. Something about this whole situation didn't feel right. Or more so, it felt more suspicious that dealing with Wesker usually did.

"To make you a deal, little Redfield." Wesker mocked, finally circling all the way around her. He leaned against one of the rails overlooking the machinery. "I'm prepared to hand this facility over to you, provided you give me a certain something in return."

Claire didn't trust him. "What is that something?" She inquired. His behavior was making the situation uncomfortable. It was one thing to deal with a focused enemy; it was another to deal with one that didn't seem to consider you a threat. Wesker fell firmly into the second category. "Just a tiny bit of information, Redfield. A good trade, if you ask me." Wesker explained, beginning to walk toward her again. "All I want is a little detail on your brother, something to show that we're all friends here."

"My brother?" Claire asked. She wasn't anticipating Wesker dragging Chris into this. "This is between you and me. He's got nothing to do with this."

Wesker let out a light chuckle. "This is a big facility. Imagine if the contents found their way into the nearby community. This area is nice and isolated, so it's unlikely someone would notice at first. Of course, Arklay was isolated too, and that did little good." He mocked. Claire bit her lip. "What do you want to know?" She finally said.

"What is the man involved with these days?" Wesker inquired, his pacing brining him uncomfortably close to Claire. Claire a second to weigh her options. The prospect of talking about Chris disgusted her, but Wesker had a point. Chris wouldn't want her to die here, and he especially wouldn't want another potential outbreak happening. Finally, she made her choice. "Chris is working for the BSAA. I believe he's partnered with Jill Valentine." She reluctantly said. Wesker chuckled, before tossing her a key. "This will unlock the vault, and get the machinery operational again." He explained.

The second that Claire caught the key, Wesker took the opportunity to lunge. Claire was left wide open, catching the key and holding her SMG left her without any free hands, and in a precarious state of balance. She braced herself, ready for another blow, but much to her surprise, it never came. Wesker's hand stopped millimeters from her ribcage before he darted off, leaving her sight range. Claire let out a scream in frustration. She had acquired an important asset in understanding Umbrella's secrets, but lost Wesker in the process. In some ways, she wasn't any closer to where she wanted to be than she was that fateful day months ago. Defeated, she made her way along the walkway further into the facility to investigate the machinery at hand.


	5. Chapter 5: Syringe

The facility bore many similarities to the Umbrella labs she had explored in the past. Tubes of various fluids flowed all around her, and the occasional monitors displayed the effects of testing said fluids. These test results, however, seemed different from the usual fare of Umbrella labs. Rather than mutating or dying, which seemed to be common for those unfortunate enough to find themselves tested on by Umbrella, these test subjects seemed fine, if not better off. One demonstration video showed a human punching through a solid few inches of steel, and another showed a human making jumps that would otherwise seem impossible.

At the far end of the lab lay the vault that Wesker had told her about. Claire found that they key she had been given worked perfectly with the vault's controls, and a sharp hissing sound filled the room as the vault de-pressurized and opened. Before her lay a single syringe, full of a glowing blue fluid, similar to what she had seen throughout the rest of the facility. Was this the serum that the facility was producing? The means to making the superhumans that Wesker had mentioned? Claire found herself surprised at her own thoughts. This was the first time she had thought about the products of Umbrella as anything more than monsters.

She looked down and realized that she was holding the syringe in her hand. Surprised, she placed it back in the case. She wanted nothing to do with this. But, some part of her was reluctant to let go of the syringe. She thought of her last encounter with Wesker, and how powerless she was. She thought about his superhuman speed and strength, and realized for a second that now, more than ever, similar power was within her grasp. She wouldn't have to end up like Wesker. She could use this power for the betterment of the world around her. More than anything else, this choice meant she wouldn't have to feel powerless anymore.

Perhaps she hadn't been thinking properly, perhaps the adrenaline of almost being floored by Wesker a second time was still pulsing about her, impairing her judgment. But, some part of her, some deep down part that she had wanted to keep suppressed finally broke free at that moment. Without thinking about it, she plunged the syringe into her arm and watched as the glowing blue fluid inside emptied.

The realization of what she had done hadn't hit her until the syringe was empty. Oh god. She had just injected herself with something she found in one of Umbrella's labs. She wanted to through up. Something pulsed inside her. She felt dizzy. Struggling to steady herself, Claire began to make it back towards the way she came. The way back seemed to take much longer than the way in. She found it hard to keep balance. One foot in front of another. She tried to focus on that. Just worry about your next step. Yet, after a few steps, the next step never came. She found herself toppling over, glancing at the shadows cast by the overhead walkways as her vision began to fade.


	6. Chapter 6: Power

She couldn't tell how long she had been out. With a groan, her vision finally returned to her, and the feeling of the cold, hard steel beneath her finally kicked in. Grunting, she made an effort to rise to her feet. She was surprised to find her balance return to her almost instantly, something uncharacteristic of all the other times she had been rendered unconscious.

Something about her felt different. She was barely aware of her steps walking, and seemed to move at a faster gait than she usually did. As she picked up the discarded SMG near where she had fallen, it didn't seem to weigh anything. Realization began to wash over Claire. She wanted to test something. With a grunt, she raised her hand up, before punching down at the ground. She bit her lip, expecting a wave of pain to wash over her, but was surprised when none came. She looked down, and realized the steel walkway beneath her had been bent by the pressure of her fist. Something within her mind snapped in realization. She had changed. She had become something different.

Claire didn't want to think about what this meant. She focused her thoughts on getting out. She would leave, and think about herself afterwards. At a much faster pace than usual, she made her way out of the lab, and began to ascend the walkway back into the main facility. She wasn't expecting what she was about to find in there.

The room had been almost empty, the heavy desks and cabinets had either been pushed against the walls of whisked off to other areas within the facility. The fallen bodies of her comrades had been neatly stacked against the far wall. In the span of however many hours she had been out, the room had gone from cluttered to bare; bare sans a single chair in the center of the room, facing away from her. Cautiously, Claire raised her SMG and surveyed the situation. Slowly, the chair before her began to turn.

The identity of the person in the chair didn't come as a great surprise to her. As much as she would have liked to avoid this moment, some part of her felt it was inevitable. Across from her sat Wesker, his lack of sunglasses revealing once more his bestial eyes. The two exchanged a knowing glance. Wesker's mouth formed into a thin smile.

"I see your curiousity got the better of you." He mocked, standing up. In a single motion, he kicked the chair backwards, sending it against the wall at the far side of the room. "Now, I wonder what all that did for you." He raised her hands, as if preparing to fight. Claire realized why he had spared her earlier; he was counting on her making the choice she did. Everything up onto this point had somehow factored into his demented master plans. Wordlessly, Claire tossed her SMG aside and assumed a fighting pose. It was time to find out what this new power could do for her.

The two surveyed each other for a good minute, each waiting in anticipation for the other to make a move. When the two could wait no longer, they were at each other. Claire lunged forward, amazed at her newfound speed. Wesker charged her, and much to her surprise, Claire was able to anticipate him coming. He extended his palm, aiming another shot at her ribs, but this time, Claire was fast enough to deflect it with her forearm. Wesker's face was both surprised and impressed. Breaking off from her, Wesker darted backwards before lunging once more. This time, his attack was a kick, aimed clean for her head. Claire ducked it with ease and returned with an uppercut to his ribcage. Wesker caught her hand and pushed her backwards, breaking away once more.

The two took another second to survey each other. Claire was surprised at how much her newfound power allowed her to keep up with him. Something about it was intoxicating. The rush she had gotten from just the past two exchanges was phenomenal, unlike anything she had felt before. "Isn't it a wonderful feeling?" Wesker asked, breaking the silence. Claire lowered her head, reluctant to respond. Another heartbeat passed, and the two were at each other again.

This time, it was Claire on the offensive. She went for a low kick to his shins, something he jumped with ease. Wesker raised his leg, reading an axe kick in midair to bring down upon her head. Claire caught his ankle with her forearm and deflected him to the side, causing him to spin through the air once before he landed on his feet. Upon doing so, Wesker wasted no time closing the distance between them once more. He swung at her, this time with a right hook. Claire caught the inside of his arm with her own forearm, once more deflecting the attack. This time, however, Wesker made little effort to break away from her as soon as his attack was parried.

Their two faces were rather close, and Claire had a chance to gaze into his strange eyes. They scared her, they reminded her that he was certainly not human, but some part of them transfixed her. As he stared her down, she could feel a heat rising within her body. She was reluctant to admit it, but something about the situation was intoxicating. She felt like her newfound might gave her some insight into Wesker. Thoughts which would have been previous intangible to her took form. A new sense of understanding swept across her memory of her prior encounter with Wesker. She realized now just what her power allowed her to do. This time, she could prove how she wasn't powerless.

Without thinking, Claire leaned her head forward. Wesker didn't seem to anticipate her action, and reacted with surprise when her lips met his. Perhaps more surprising was the fact that he did not pull away, but continued the kiss, attacking her lips with his own. Some sort of heat was rising between the two of them…


End file.
